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Kory Clarke wanted to be the Iggy Pop of the '90s. Through his band, Warrior Soul, the Detroit native concocted his ownStooges- and MC5-style
blend of political activism and art rock tendencies, gave it a '90s spin, and tried to impart it uponGeneration X (the kids, not the band), but they
never listened.
Originally a drummer for a number of bands, including Detroit punks L7 (not the all-female L.A. band) and PennsylvaniaSouthern rockers Raging
Slab, Kory Clarke promoted himself to stage front when he founded Warrior Soul with guitarist JohnRicco, bassist Pete McLanahan, and drummer
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Kory Clarke wanted to be the Iggy Pop of the '90s. Through his band, Warrior Soul, the Detroit native concocted his ownStooges- and MC5-style
blend of political activism and art rock tendencies, gave it a '90s spin, and tried to impart it uponGeneration X (the kids, not the band), but they
never listened.
Originally a drummer for a number of bands, including Detroit punks L7 (not the all-female L.A. band) and PennsylvaniaSouthern rockers Raging
Slab, Kory Clarke promoted himself to stage front when he founded Warrior Soul with guitarist JohnRicco, bassist Pete McLanahan, and drummer
Paul Ferguson. Their first album, 1990's Last Decade Dead Century, was acritical sensation, especially in the U.K., where listeners readily
embraced the band's political invective and insurrectionistrantings as the next big thing. But while Clarke certainly had the potential to become
Generation X's leading mainstream-bashing poet, the metallic hard rock sound he chose as his vehicle ultimately lost out to Nirvana's nihilistic
post-punk/alternative style.Released in 1991, Drugs, God and the New Republic (featuring new drummer Mark Evans) took their anarchist
leanings evenfurther, but was significantly inferior on the songwriting front, and not even a nationwide support tour with Queensrÿche(with whom
they shared management from the mighty Q Prime agency) helped further their cause. The following year's muchimproved Salutations From the
Ghetto Nation fared no better, and Clarke's interviews became increasingly bitter, focusing onthe band's record label, Geffen, whom he accused
of ignoring the group's potential. Eventually, Clarke resorted to an all-outwar, telling all who would listen that 1993's glaringly average Chill Pill
had been botched on purpose in order to fulfill theband's contract. The ploy worked, and by early 1994 Warrior Soul were dropped by Geffen.
A number of lineup changes ensued, beginning with the departure of drummer Evans and the eventual ousting of longtimeaxeman Ricco, replaced
by two guitarists: Chris Moffet and Alexander Arundel (aka X-Factor). Clarke then sought to reinventWarrior Soul as self-appointed cyberpunks
for their fifth album, 1995's Space Age Playboys, released on the independentFuturist label. Unfortunately, the buying public's continued
indifference only served to confirm that the band's best days werebehind it, and McLanahan and Arundel soon quit the group. Left with no one to
blame but himself, Clarke finally disbandedWarrior Soul later that year. A posthumous collection of demos and outtakes entitled Odds and Ends
was released in 1996,and Clarke went on to form a new band called Space Age Playboys.
In 2007 Clarke revived the name and, with a new batch of musicians, set out on a tour of the U.K. A live album soonfollowed, and in 2008 the
band released a new studio album titled Chinese Democracy (though they soon retitled it Destroythe War Machine in deference to the Guns N'
Roses album of the same name). The band continued to tour sporadicallythroughout the rest of the decade. « hide |
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